Zombified (Book 2): Shady Oaks (6 page)

Chapter Seven

After being manhandled into the tent, Mick first took in his surroundings and then kept his gaze on Brooke, who was sitting across from him and Charlie. She sat between Jenny and Jimmy, Jake was nowhere to be seen.

The inside of the tent was brightly lit and air conditioned, courtesy of the large generators outside. Several tables and desks with computer work stations on top were scattered throughout the area where they were now sitting on folding chairs. Behind them a plastic strip door obscured their view of what lay beyond.

Charlie leaned forward toward Jenny. "Where's Jake?" he mouthed more than whispered.

"Behind you," she whispered back. "There's a lab back there and he's trying to help them with their vaccine."

Charlie raised his eyebrows and sat back without replying. He glanced at Mick, who was still staring at Brooke and smiling. Giving him a nudge, he whispered in Mick's ear what Jenny told him.

"So they are working on a cure," Mick whispered back, never taking his eyes off Brooke. She scowled at him and he grinned. Now that he knew she was okay, he turned his full attention to Charlie. "Jake is helping, that's good, and maybe it will earn us some Brownie points."

Charlie was about to reply when an extremely tall man passed by them from behind. Abruptly he stopped and turned to face them.

He studied the group before giving them a tight smile. Then he focused on Mick and Charlie. "I imagine introductions are in order, so I will go first. I am Malcolm Greenwold, formerly from
New York City."

Mick nudged Charlie, who straightened up and cleared his throat. "I'm Charlie Thompson and this is Mick Carter. We're here to get our daughters and their friends back."

"Very noble of you, coming to the rescue like that," Malcolm said with a chuckle. "Believe it or not, that is something we have in common."

Charlie tilted his head, clearly puzzled. "Really? How so?"

Malcolm walked over to a table that held Mick and Charlie's backpacks. He quickly flipped through a folder and withdrew something. Walking back over to Charlie and Mick, he showed them a photo of a handsome dark-haired boy of about fifteen. "This is my son, Connor. When the infection began, I was overseas on business. No one could tell me exactly how it happened, but Connor and several of my staff was attacked and he was bitten while being moved to a more secure location."

Charlie felt his mouth open with surprise. So Malcolm named his killing machine after his son. He slowly shook his head and glanced at Mick, who mirrored his own surprise.

Malcolm walked back to the table and replaced the photo. "Fortunately, I'm a very wealthy man. Doctors informed me that it might help to put Connor in a medically induced coma and slow his metabolism down drastically. They assured me it could be done safely so I gave the okay; it buys us valuable time in our search for a cure."

Malcolm turned. "All of you get up and follow me," he said curtly. As everyone slowly rose to their feet, Malcolm's two bodyguards stepped in with weapons in hand.

Silently the group followed until they reached the back of the tent. Charlie could make out a heavily furnished lab and saw Jake deep in conversation with a very short and squat little man with receding gray hair and thick black glasses.

Beyond them was what Charlie could only think of as a long plastic tube. To his surprise, he could make out what he assumed was the body of Connor Greenwold. He could hear a faint hissing noise, which was probably oxygen and a myriad of hoses, tubes, and wires were snaking out the bottom.

Malcolm stood next to his son's capsule and waved them all forward. He pointed to the boy's arm. "As you can see, he was bitten on the forearm. The bite is nasty looking, isn't it?" He then pointed to lines drawn above the bite. "Just like a snake bite, the doctors keep track of the infection. We have been successful in slowing it down. However, if we don't find a cure, Connor will eventually die."

Malcolm raised his head to look at them, his eyes as cold and gray as a winter sky. "I promise you though, that won't happen. I will go to the ends of the earth if I must to save my only son."

He glanced again at Charlie and Mick. "So now you see why I said we have something in common. You too would do everything in your power to save your children."

"Not if it meant killing others," Mick blurted out, but Malcolm only smiled.

"Don't be so sure about that, Mr. Carter," he said with a chill in his voice. "Those who have "helped" us with our experiments will be responsible for saving perhaps thousands of lives. Is there a nobler goal? I think not."

"You're crazy," Charlie growled, his hands opening and closing into fists. "You have caused more harm and damage than you can ever imagine. I do believe a vaccine, if not a complete cure, will be found someday, but not like this. Not experimenting on healthy men, women, and children. What you're doing will end up wiping us all out faster than the infection."

From the corner of his eye, Charlie noticed Jake and the other man watching them. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself and gave Jake a slight nod, which was solemnly returned.

Malcolm noticed the exchange and said, "Jake here has been a tremendous help and he has not been quite as judgmental. We believe he has stumbled upon a missing piece of our little puzzle that is vital to perfecting a vaccine." He motioned Jake over to the group and continued. "I will let him explain to you exactly what it is we've been trying to achieve."

Malcolm stepped back and folded his arms. Jake gave him a nervous glance and Malcolm smiled. "Please Jake, do go on. Enlighten your friends of our discoveries, I am eager for them to know what we have been working on."

Charlie wasn't sure why this man was so anxious for them to understand what he was doing, but he was curious about what they knew. Perhaps this knowledge could help all of them in Shady Oaks.

Jake ran his hand through his curly red hair before replying. "All right then, I guess the best place to start is the beginning. Let's all go back up front so we can sit and be more comfortable, this will take a while."

****

Sean and Scott trotted over to Captain Sears as soon as they spotted him. He gave them a quick smile.

"Now that everyone's here, we need to discuss our exchange with Mr. Greenwold and how we want to proceed," he said to the small group of soldiers assembled around him.

He wished his full company was there, but there was no way they could make it to him in time. So the smaller platoon of men he traveled with would have to do, but they were some of the finest soldiers he'd ever commanded and he couldn't ask for more.

"We've already pulled back quite a bit and I've decided to wait them out for awhile to see what they do. I didn't see many men at the camp and it's my guess that most of them are out on some kind of mission, so I don't want to wait too long. I'd like for this to be over before we have more of the Connor Group to deal with."

The captain tapped his watch while glancing at the men before him. "I am going to give them two hours before I go back. If we still have an impasse, then we will be forced to go in. Troop leaders, I will determine when the time is right to engage and most of you will probably be informed on very short notice so stay sharp and be ready."

At their nods he continued. "Everyone knows their role so I expect to see a successful mission with no civilian casualties. In case the rest of Greenwold's men do show up, we need to make sure we are not seen so that means disappear until time to act."

He gazed at the men before him. "Okay, that's all for now, you're dismissed - get your men in position and stay focused."

He turned to Sean and Scott. "You two come with me, we need to discuss what's going on with your father and the others."

Without waiting for a reply, Sears turned and headed for the jeep. Next to it was a hastily erected command center that consisted mostly of a folding table covered with maps and a ham radio, currently being operated by a grizzled, middle-aged sergeant who greeted them with a steely glare before returning to his radio. Sean grinned when Sears sat down on a case of MRE's and motioned for them to do the same.

He noticed the grin and returned it. "Gotta make do with what we have," he said with a pat to his box. "Not the most comfortable seat, but I've had worse."

"Me too, sir," Sean said with a chuckle as Scott nodded in agreement.

Sears glanced at the two young soldiers before him. "I'm going to assume that you had no idea what your father was planning." They both shook their head and he continued. "I wish I knew what they were up to, but guess it doesn't matter anymore. Now we have six hostages to negotiate over and most likely rescue. I'm going to try one more time to secure their release, but I don't think Mr. Greenwold is willing to let them go. So what I need to know is if we have to go in, do you want to be part of the extraction team?"

"Yes sir!" They said in unison and he laughed.

"I thought you'd say that. All right then," he said, still chuckling. He pointed toward a group of men huddled around a Humvee about twenty feet away. "Go over there and tell them I sent you, they'll get you set up and briefed."

Captain Sears stood, followed by the twins. Sean reached over to shake his hand. "Thank you again for allowing us to help out, we won't let you down."

"I know you won't," Sears said as he shook first Sean's, then Scott's hand. "Your parents raised two fine young men and I'm glad to have you serve under my command at any time."

"Thank you, sir, that means a lot to us," Scott said with a smile.

Returning the smile, Sears nodded his head toward the other group. "You're welcome. Now you'd better get over there before they finish their briefing - they won't like it if they have to repeat everything."

As Sean and Scott saluted, he reciprocated and chuckled again with a shake of his head as he watched them hustle toward the other group.

Chapter Eight

Jake tapped a finger against his chin for a moment before speaking again. "As you already know, research and study of the zombies began immediately. Several interesting things quickly came to light. One of the first questions the scientists and doctors had was - why were zombies attacking people? They look like they're craving something don't they?"

At their nods, he continued. "A healthy person needs to stay hydrated, even overnight most people become slightly dehydrated during sleep. Now, let's look at a zombie. They are technically dead and they are dehydrating and drying out. What they are craving is the water that can be found in our tissue. For a short time they may be satiated, but it doesn't last long and they begin to thirst again. So they're not really hungry, they're thirsty. During their testing here, a few zombies were completely hydrated and they became totally docile. This could possibly be information we can use against them, if they're not thirsty perhaps they would no longer be a threat. They're also not interested in the moisture that could be gained from cats, dogs, or other animals - which is a good thing because some animal populations could be decimated like we were."

Mick found himself nodding. After destroying the zombies in Shady Oaks, they had to spend more time tracking down any dogs that got into skirmishes with the zombies and putting them down. Dogs could be infected, but they tended to act rabid and when the infection killed them, they did not reanimate.

"Okay, the next discovery was a little more complex and took a bit longer to figure out. One researcher's job was to watch the group of zombies being held in the building at the end of camp. He began to notice that whenever someone entered, they would all turn as one toward the door as soon as they heard the doors being unlocked. What was even more interesting, there were a few zombies being held in separate soundproof rooms. Those zombies also turned toward the door a few seconds after the main group did so. The scientists started performing several experiments and what we only guessed at they were able to confirm. Within a certain distance, they think it maxes out at two miles, the zombies definitely can communicate telepathically."

At their shocked and surprised murmurs, he held up a hand. "I know - we wondered about it, but it seems to be true. However, they don't have fully formed thoughts - it's very basic. They alert to certain sights and sounds and it gets passed around."

"I'm not so sure about that," Mick said. "We watched zombies at Dave's Place herd people toward us and then they watched our reaction when they attacked those folks. I don't want to go into what happened, but I think they're smarter than you're giving them credit for."

Charlie nodded. "I agree. The time my truck quit on us, they were definitely communicating and trying to cut us off so we couldn't get away, and we almost didn't."

Jake spun a chair around and straddled it. Leaning his arms on the back of the chair he said, "I'm just passing on what they told me, I don't think they've been studying this aspect of zombie behavior that long."

"So that takes us to the Connor Group's efforts to find a vaccine or cure
. So far all efforts to develop an effective and safe vaccine have met with failure. There
is
a vaccine, but it's unreliable. From tests they've conducted, the vaccine provides protection for about sixty percent of the subjects exposed to the virus. The problem lies in the cure; the other forty percent actually die from side effects of the vaccine."

Charlie tried not to think about how many people had suffered and died so far in order for Malcolm to conduct his experiments. Malcolm was standing in the background watching them all intently. When he stood and approached them, Charlie poured as much hatred and disgust into his expression as he could muster.

"Sorry for interrupting," Malcolm said with a wave of his hand toward Jake. "There is something I'd like to elaborate. The "cure" rate is 60 percent, which is better than nothing, but what Jake hasn't been told yet is that we've been working on trying to identify those who will benefit from the vaccine. That way, over half the population could be inoculated right now. The vaccine has been tested extensively and seems to offer absolute protection. Of course we don't know how long immunity lasts, but time will tell."

Without another word, Malcolm turned on his heel and walked back to where he'd been standing earlier. Charlie shook his head and decided to ignore the irritating man.

Sure, the fact that a lot of people could be protected was wonderful news and he hoped they could find a way to tell who would benefit without killing more people, but he knew Malcolm was trying to redeem himself with his little tidbit of information.

Charlie figured Malcolm's real motive for a pretest was based more on the fact that they'd eventually run out of test subjects and not due to any sense of decency on Malcolm's part.

"That's where I come in," Jake said as he stood up. "Since we've been here and they showed me what they've been doing, I've been sharing with them what I discovered on my own. Of course, the ideal situation is to refine the vaccine so it protects over ninety percent of the population, and that's something we both are working on. But for now, it looks like we may have found the way to do effective pretesting, which means no more people will die after receiving the vaccine."

"So how did they find out so quickly you were a doctor and that you were working on the same thing?" Charlie asked.

"That's easy to answer," Jenny interjected with a grin at Jake. "As soon as he spotted all the equipment he couldn't keep his mouth shut and Malcolm scooped him right up. He's been back there ever since."

Jake stood up and nodded. "And I need to get back to work, if you all don't mind. Sorry," he said somewhat apologetically. "I want to see them succeed on this, Malcolm promised they would quit using people as test subjects if we can get this to work."

Charlie watched Jake hurry over to Jenny to give her a quick kiss before he disappeared through the plastic curtains. Malcolm pushed off a support pole he was leaning against and walked over.

"Now that you know what's going on, I'm going to send two of you out to fill this Captain Sears in on what we're trying to achieve here. The last thing I need is for them to disrupt our work. You probably thought I'd say
destroy
our work, but he won't be able to accomplish that objective. I'm sure you've noticed there are not many men here; most of them are busy carrying out their missions."

Malcolm sat down on the chair vacated by Jake and glanced at each person in turn. "If the military is still here by the time my men return, he and his entire platoon will be destroyed, so make sure he understands the gravity of the situation."

"As for those of you who remain, I will keep you safe, that much I promised Jake, so consider yourselves fortunate. I will put you to work, however; everyone here earns their keep."

Malcolm stood and glowered down at them. "Now to pick the two of you who will be leaving us?"

****

Cindy sat quietly next to Judith and tried to pay attention to what Harry Jones had to say, but she couldn't take her mind off the fact that Brooke and the others were in danger. By the look on Judith's face, Cindy realized she was also deep in thought and reached over to pat her hand reassuringly. Judith gave a small start and gave Cindy a guilty smile.

"Sorry," she whispered. "I am so worried right now."

"Me too," Cindy replied. She gave a slight nod toward the door. "Let's excuse ourselves and go outside, all right?"

"Sounds like a plan," Judith said with a nod.

Cindy glanced around her living room, which at the moment was packed with people eager to hear Harry's story of how he came to be at Shady Oaks. She stood and grabbing Judith by the forearm, pulled her up.

"Need a little air, carry on without us," she said quickly with a wave of her hand and a quick smile for Harry. They wove their way through the crowd as fast as they could and both exhaled loudly when they exited onto the broad front porch.

They stood quietly for a moment, surveying their surroundings before Judith sighed and sat down on the front steps.

"I am hoping to hear from the boys at any time," Cindy said as she joined her friend. "We haven't heard anything from Mick or Charlie, either and they promised to stay in touch." She carefully set the walkie down between them and patted it. "The boys are probably radio silent, but hopefully it won't be much longer."

Judith glanced at her friend's worried face. "I'm thinking positive; they will call in and let us know everyone and everything is just fine. As for Mick and Charlie, I'm sure they've lost track of time as usual."

Cindy nodded in response then straightened her spine when she felt something rub against her back. Smiling, she turned and picked up the small purring creature. "Moses! I was wondering where you were!"

Judith pointed at the gray tabby now sitting on Cindy's lap. "Don't you think it's strange how there were no cats around until we startled settling into the houses. Then they seemed to appear out of thin air and went about their business like nothing happened."

Cindy grinned at the still purring cat on her lap. "I agree, it was strange, it's like they hid out until things settled down then came strolling back in demanding dinner."

Judith laughed and reached over to scratch Moses behind his ears. The cat responded by purring louder, making them both chuckle.

She sighed again as she gazed out over the yard and beyond. "I really don't think I can sit here and wait for something to happen."

"Well, what should we do?" Cindy gently placed the cat on the porch and stood up to face her friend. "Would take us a while to find Mick and Charlie, and it would be dark before we even got close to the lake if we went up there."

"Yeah, it's too bad we couldn't fly up there and back," Judith grumbled. Suddenly her eyes widened and she jumped up excitedly. "Hey! We can't fly, but we know someone who can!"

Cindy's mouth opened in surprise. "Are you serious? Do you really think he would?"

Judith was already reaching for the door. "We won't know unless we ask!"

Cindy scurried up the steps and quickly followed Judith inside. Harry was no longer the center of attention, the group had broken up and were now chatting in small groups. She waited just inside the door while Judith threaded her way back over to Harry, where she bent and whispered in his ear. He gave her a quick grin, nodded, and stood up to follow her out.

Cindy gave him a smile when they approached and she stepped aside, holding the door for them to go through first.

Wasting no time, Judith turned to Harry. "We have a big favor to ask of you."

Harry raised his eyebrows as he gave her a quizzical look.

"You met Charlie and Mick earlier today, when you first landed. They were on their way to check with our people out on the perimeter of town because there's a group of mercenary-type people up on Fletcher's Mountain who are very dangerous. They took Cindy and Mick's daughter," she said with a wave toward Cindy. "They also have Charlie's daughter and both their boyfriends, and for some reason they're holding them hostage."

Cindy watched as Harry raised his eyebrows even higher. "There's a few military platoons around still, one of them we are friendly with," Cindy interjected. "My two sons went up there with them to find out what's going on and we haven't heard from them," she said with a tremor in her voice that surprised her.

She realized she was a little more distraught than she cared to admit. She gave herself a mental shake and looked directly into Harry's eyes. "We'd like to ask you to consider flying up the mountain to take a quick look, assess the situation if it's possible, and then come back and let us know what you saw. You may be able to give us an idea of what we need to do to help them up there."

Harry rubbed his whiskered chin thoughtfully as he gazed at each woman. "I would love to help you out, but I'm almost out of fuel. Also, I'd like to have a co-pilot if that's possible. I did some modifications to the Huey so it would be easier to fly on my own, but another pair of hands would help a lot."

Both women glanced at each other, frowning, before Judith snapped her fingers and grinned. "I do know where we may be able to get some fuel, but we'll have to go up to where Bitsy and Travis are, the farmer there has a small hangar on his property - if I remember right he does some crop dusting for other farms in the area."

"We'll need to grab some fuel cans from the hardware store, it's on the way," Cindy said as she headed down the steps.

"How long is it going to take to get the fuel and get back?" Harry asked as he followed her. "This probably doesn't need saying, but I need to be up there before dark to be of any use, and if you know of someone who can go with me they can show me where to go."

Cindy stopped and turned to face him. She glanced at Judith then looking past her friend, she chuckled. Puzzled, both Judith and Harry turned to follow her gaze.

They watched the Mark emerge from Cindy's house and head straight for them. He looked up and stopped to see all three of them smiling at him. "Umm, what's up?" Mark asked, smiling slightly himself.

Cindy walked up and tapped him lightly on the chest. "You are," she quipped with a chuckle at the confused look on his face and tapped him again. "Or rather, you will be."